Ultimate Spider-Man #2

The cover of this 2009 Marvel issue is immediately arresting — David Lafuente arranges dozens of Spider-Man figures into a mesmerizing kaleidoscope pattern, their red-and-black costumes radiating outward from a glowing central point like a stained-glass mandala. It's a striking, almost meditative image that gives the wall-crawler an unexpected sense of infinite possibility. Brian Michael Bendis continues "The New World According to Peter Parker" here, and with Lafuente's kinetic energy and Justin Ponsor's warm coloring bringing it all to life, this second chapter arrives with real visual ambition.